Package memo pad



Sept. 15, 1953 Q'MEARA 2,652,149

PACKAGE MEMO PAD Filed Jan. 1'7, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l 7 1mm ROMEHRGSept. 15, 1953 O' 2,652,149

PACKAGE MEMO PAD Filed Jan. 17, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 N. i ezz 'ff GJOHN ROMERRH,

BY M

Patented Sept. 15, 1953 PACKAGE MEMO PAD John R. OMeara, Scotch Plains,N. J., assignor to Ivers-Lee Company, Newark, N. J., a corporation ofDelaware Application January 1'7, 1952, Serial No. 266,830

2 Glaims.

This invention relates generally to a device for holding and protectingagainst damage, such as crushing, small articles such as medicinaltablets, capsules and the like, and into and from which the articles canbe easily inserted. and removed, respectively.

One known type of package comprises one piece of heavy cardboard of athickness greater than the articles and having holes or cells in whichthe articles are individually disposed, the articles being held in thecells by layers of material overlying the articles in the cells, forexample, a tubular cover into and out of which the layer of cardboard isslidable. This type of package is relatively stiff and the cardboard canbe cracked or broken during transit, for example, in the mails, so thatthe package at least in part may be destroyed and some or all of thearticles may be damaged or released from the package.

Packages of this type are frequently used in L conjunction withpharmaceutical preparations, particularly tablets and capsules and thetablets are dispensed by a doctor to his patient with directions whichfrequently are written on separate sheets of paper to guide the patientin taking the medicine.

One object of the present invention is to provide a container or packagewhich shall be flexible and thereby reduce the possibility of crackingor damage to the package and the articles during transit, and a portionof which shall be capable of receiving written or printed indicia of thenature of the articles, memos, notes, or directions of the physician andcan be removed or detached from the package and handed to the patientwith one or more of the tablets or capsules.

Another object is to provide such a package which shall comprise aplurality of superposed flexible leaves, sheets or pages of paper orother suitable material having one or more holes leaves or sheetsintermediate the thickness of the pad or assembly of leaves or sheetswith the articles in register with said holes, and the assembly ofleaves or sheets being relatively slidably associated with a tubularcover which normally is in position to hold the leaves or sheets againstsuch separation as to permit displacement of said envelope but which canbe slid on the assembly or pad to release said envelope for removal ofthe articles.

Other objects are to provide a package of this nature wherein the leavesshall be scored, perforated or otherwise weakened to permit separationof the second-mentioned portions of the leaves or sheets from thearticle-holding portions; to provide a novel and improved combination ofthe pad or assembly of leaves or sheets and the slidable cover such thatone edge of the cover may serve as a cutting or guiding edge for theremoval of the indiciaor memo-receiving portions of the leaves orsheets; and other objects, advantages and results of the invention willbe brought out by the following description in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of a packagememo pad embodying the invention and illustrating one manner of removingthe indicia-receiving portion of one of the sheets;

Figure 2 is an end elevational view of the package from the plane of theline 2--2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing the cover slid into theposition to release the sheets for removal of the articles;

Figure 4 is a side elevational view from the plane of the line 4- ofFigure 1;

Figure 5 is a composite sectional top plan view approximately on theplane of the line 5--5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is an enlarged top plan view similar to Figure 3 showing themanner of separating the leaves for removal of the articles;

Figure '7 is a greatly enlarged sectional view approximately on theplane of the line of Figure 6;

Figue 8 is a composite top plan view of the assembly or pad of leaves orsheets, the slidable cover and the article-containing envelope inseparated relation to each other;

Figure 9 is a top plan view of a modified form of the package;

Figure 10 is a bottom plan view of the package shown in Figure 9;

Figure 11 is a top plan view of another modiflcation of the package withportions broken away;

Figure 12 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing a further modificationof the package;

' Figure 13 is a top plan view of another form of a package embodyingthe invention with portions broken away.

Specifically describing the embodiment of the invention shown in Figures1 to 8 inclusive, the package memo pad includes a body portion Acomposed of a pile, pad or assembly of loosely superposed thin flexiblesheets or leaves I of suitable material, for example, paper, whichpreferably although not necessarily are mounted on a relatively stiiferbacking sheet 2, formed of, for xample, thin cardboard. Preferably thesheets I are secured together and to the backing sheet 2 along one ormore edges in any suitable manner so that the sheets can be turned orlifted from the pad at at least one edge and individually separated fromthe pad. As shown in Figures 1 to 8 inclusive, the sheets are securedtogether along one longitudinal edge by adhesive and threads extendingtransversely of the edges of the sheets as indicated at 3.

The aggregate thickness of the sheets I and 2 is preferabl slightlygreater than the thickness of the articles such as tablets 4 that are tobe packaged, and holes 5 of a diameter greater than the diameter of saidarticles are punched in the assembled sheets or pad to provide cells orpockets for the articles. A plurality of holes have been shown in acertain zone 9 that is, one end zone, of the pad of leaves or sheets,and the size and number of holes may be varied, one 01' more beingprovided as desired, and of a size to accommodate the particulararticle.

The articles 4 are shown as sealed in a flanged envelope B thatcomprises two opposed layers 6 and l of flexible material such ascellophane or Pliofilm, and said envelope is inserted between twoadjacent sheets, about centrally of the thickness of the pad with thearticles 4 in register or alignment with the respective openings 5, andwith the marginal flanges 8 of the envelope extending beyond theopenings 5 and between the adjacent sheets as best shown in Figures 6and '7, the articles being thereby protected against damage, such ascrushing.

With this construction it will be observed that the envelope containingthe articles can be inserted between and removed from the sheets bysimply turning back the sheets at one corner as best shown in Figure 6.The articles are preferably disposed in individual compartments in theenvelope and said compartments are easily separable from. each other bytearing the material of which the envelope is formed, in a manner wellknown in the art.

The portions or zones It of the leaves I at their ends opposite thezones 9 in which the holes 5 are formed, are capable of receivingprinted or written inclicia pertaining to the articles, for ex ample,directions as to the use of the articles, or notes, memoranda oradvertising matter. Where the articles constitute medicinal tablets orcapsules, a physician might remove one or more of the tablets from theenvelope, write directions for taking the tablets on the zone I of theuppermost sheet I and hand the tablet and written directions to apatient.

The assembly of leaves or pad is relatively telescopically slidablyassociated with a tubular cover C which includes two opposed top andbottom walls H and I2 and end walls I3, the cover thus being ore-formedand rectangular shaped in transverse cross-section. The top and bottomwalls I! and I2 preferably, but not necessarily, are of a width tooverlie all of the holes and when the cover overlies the zone I0 thecover holds the leaves I against such lifting or separation as wouldpermit displacement of the envelope from between the leaves as shown inFigures 1, 4 and 5; but the cover can be slid to the right in Figures 1and 5 and to the position shown in Figures 3 and 6 or completely 01f thepad as preferred, so as to permit the leaves to be separated for removalof the envelope as shown in Figure 6. When the cover is in overlyingrelation to zones or portions 9 of the sheets, the portions I0 can beeasily removed by simply tearing the sheets along the edge of the topwall of the cover as shown in Figure 1, although, of course, if desiredthe sheets could be perforated, scored or weakened as indicated at I4 inFigures 12 and 9 to facilitate individual removal thereof as shown inFigure 12, and also to permit removal of the portions it of all of thesheets at one time, if desired, as shown in Figure 9.

The cover may have openings I5 in its front and rear walls to registerwith the holes 5 for displaying the articles, or only the front wall mayhave openings in the cover as shown at D in Figures 9 and 10, or theopenings may be entirely omitted from the cover as shown at E and F inFigures 11 and 13.

Also the cover may be formed of any suitable, preferably flexiblematerial such as thin cardboard as shown in Figures 1 to 10 inclusive,or may comprise a plastic composition which may be transparent asindicated at E in Figure 11.

Moreover, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that thesheets of the pad may be divided into different sections, for example,into sections I6 and I"! in Figure 11 by scored lines IS.

The package of the invention may be further modified to accommodate alarger number of articles or articles of two different kinds, forexample, as shown in Figure 12. Here the pad G has one group ofarticle-receiving openings I8 at one end zone and another group ofarticlereceiving openings I9 in the other end zone and each sheet of thepad has a zone 20 between the two groups of openings to receive indiciaof any desired nature, said zones 20 being separable from the pad alongthe scored lines I 4. Covers H and I for the openings I8 and I9,respectively, are slidable on the pad or entirely off the pad in thesame manner as are the other covers hereinbefore described. With thisarrangement, a larger number of one type of article may be packaged orthe package may contain one type of articles in the openings I8 andanother type of articles in the openings I9. The indicia-receiving zones20 may be utilized for indicia relating to either or both types ofarticles, the zone of one sheet being usable for one type of article andthe zone of another sheet being adapted for use with articles of theother type.

In all forms of the invention it will be observed that the pad can beeasily and quickly made and the openings or article-receiving cells canbe formed by a simple punching operation. The envelope B can be insertedbetween the sheets I before or after application of the cover C to thepad, and after the cover has been applied to the pad over the zone thatcontains the article-receiving cells, the sheets will be held againstseparation so that accidental displacement of the envelope is prevented.The Whole package is flexible so that it can easily bend during transit,for example, in the mails, Without damage to either the pad, cover orthe articles. The indicia-receiving portions of the pad sheets arealways handy for use when the articles are dispensed, or if desired saidindiciareceiving portions can be entirely removed from the package andused as a separate memo pad as shown in Figure 9. In all forms of theinvention it will be observed that the memo-reeeiving portions of thepad serve as guide-supports for the covers when the latter are slid offthe zones of the pads in which the articles are packaged.

The flanged envelope prevents displacement of the articles through theopenings of the pad and provides for easy and quick insertion andremoval of a plurality of articles into and from the package.

While the sheets of the pad have been shown as glued together along onelongitudinal edge, obviously, the sheets may be glued along one or moreedges so as to provide the desired relationship between thearticle-containing portion of the pad, the cover and theindicia-receiving portion of the pad.

Other modifications and changes in the construction and use of theinvention will occur to those skilled in the art as within the spiritand scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

l. A package comprising an envelope formed of superposed layers of thinflexible sheet material sealed together and having at least one articlesealed between said layers, a plurality of loosely superposed thinflexible sheets forming a body of a thickness greater than that of saidarticle, said sheets having openings cooperating in corresponding zonesof the sheets to provide a pocket for said article and said sheets beingsecured together along at least one edge to provide for lifting andseparating of said sheets individually from an edge thereof, saidenvelope being removably inserted between two of said sheetsintermediate the thickness of said body, and a tubular covertelescopically slidably associated with said body, said cover serving tohold said sheets against separation and prevent displacement of saidenvelope from said body when said cover is in encompassing relation tothe body at the zones of said sheets in which said pocket is disposedand said cover releasing said sheets for separation and for insertion orremoval of said envelope when the cover is withdrawn from saidencompassing relation to the body, said flexible sheets having otherzones extending from the first-mentioned zones capable of receivingindicia and eoacting with each other to provide a support on the bodyfor said cover, said cover being pre-formed and rectangular shaped intransverse cross section, said cover also being of a length tosubstantially cover the portion of the body in which said pocket isdisposed and at the same time leave the other portions of the bodyuncovered to provide for the sliding withdrawal of the tubular coveralong the body from the first-mentioned portion thereof onto thesecond-mentioned portion, said sheets being of tearable material toprovide for severability of the sheets between said first-mentioned andsaid secondmentioned zones to permit individual detachment of thesecond-mentioned zones from the respective sheets.

2. A package as defined in claim 1 wherein said flexible sheets arerectangular in plan, said first-mentioned and second-mentioned zones areat opposite end portions of the sheets, and one edge of said coverprovides a tearing guide for severing the second-mentioned zones of saidsheets from the first-mentioned zones.

JOHN R. OMEARA.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,359,750 Schrank Nov. 23, 1920 1,492,101 Mordecai Apr. 29,1924 1,984,351 Johnson Dec. 11, 1934 2,050,270 Burnham Aug. 11, 19362,057,180 Berg Oct. 13, 1936 2,199,476 Berg May 7, 1940

